0:00:11.750,0:00:16.570
Anarchists, anti-authoritarians and radicals[br]of all stripes spend a disproportionate amount

0:00:16.570,0:00:20.800
of time and energy confronting the so-called[br]‘big picture’ challenges of the world.

0:00:21.600,0:00:26.439
In this all-consuming competition to change[br]society, too often we overlook the personal

0:00:26.439,0:00:30.990
struggles that many of us face, including[br]some of the most basic questions of how we

0:00:30.990,0:00:34.219
relate to ourselves, each other, [br]and the world around us.

0:00:34.219,0:00:38.280
For some, the mundane tasks of day-to-day[br]living can feel so meaningless,

0:00:38.280,0:00:39.750
or so hyper-important,

0:00:39.750,0:00:43.340
that even the simplest decisions [br]become impossible to manage.

0:00:43.340,0:00:49.060
For others, ongoing or past experiences of[br]physical danger, trauma, and instability,

0:00:49.060,0:00:54.030
can severely compound the difficulties that[br]we already face surviving in a white supremacist,

0:00:54.030,0:00:56.959
hetero-patriarchal and capitalist society.

0:00:57.449,0:01:00.410
Yet despite the large number of us who face[br]these struggles daily,

0:01:00.410,0:01:03.340
within our movements, [br]mental health is often tokenized

0:01:03.340,0:01:07.410
or treated as an afterthought, [br]and mental illness is often invisibilized.

0:01:07.410,0:01:10.960
Mainstream society polarises crazy people.

0:01:10.960,0:01:14.961
On the one hand it lifts a few of us up to[br]celebrate our creative brilliance in the fields

0:01:14.961,0:01:17.160
of art, film, books and music.

0:01:17.160,0:01:19.630
When you hear about slavery for 400 years

0:01:19.630,0:01:22.110
For 400 years?[br]That sounds like a choice!

0:01:22.380,0:01:27.210
On the other, it stigmatizes and fears us,[br]controlling and locking us up.

0:01:27.640,0:01:32.290
Far from being a fast-track to creative stardom,[br]mental illness leaves millions of people to

0:01:32.290,0:01:34.620
fall through the cracks of our neuro-typical[br]society.

0:01:34.620,0:01:37.300
Most insanity does not get celebrated.

0:01:37.300,0:01:41.510
For many, it means losing your job or home[br]because you can't get out of bed.

0:01:41.510,0:01:46.269
Not being able to socialize or organize due[br]to anxiety, paranoia, or the inability to

0:01:46.269,0:01:48.089
maintain relationships.

0:01:48.089,0:01:52.799
Using risky coping mechanisms to try and manage[br]your own symptoms, or relying on the toxic

0:01:52.799,0:01:55.130
mental health system for your very survival.

0:01:55.130,0:01:59.740
To the extent that they can be separated,[br]the psychiatric and pharmaceutical industries

0:01:59.740,0:02:05.030
both extract incredible profits in their supposed[br]pursuit of our ‘mental wellness’.

0:02:05.030,0:02:09.449
Yet for those who would seek to break free[br]from the State and capital’s system of pathological

0:02:09.449,0:02:14.280
diagnoses and lucrative prescriptions... what[br]exactly does that leave us with?

0:02:14.280,0:02:18.290
Over the next thirty minutes, we will speak[br]with a range of individuals as they share

0:02:18.290,0:02:22.640
their insights on the causes and potential[br]solutions to mental illness, and share their

0:02:22.640,0:02:27.170
experiences of fighting stigma, dealing with[br]trauma and getting into the proper headspace

0:02:27.170,0:02:29.040
to make a whole lot of trouble.

0:03:04.230,0:03:09.040
Mental health means our own [br]interior kind of wellness.

0:03:09.040,0:03:15.730
Our own personal equilibrium of [br]how we respond to the ails of the world.

0:03:17.680,0:03:24.600
Mental health is your own way of feeling balanced[br]and feeling that you're well.

0:03:24.600,0:03:28.239
And we need to take it in a very broad sense.

0:03:28.239,0:03:33.610
In different cultures around the world, [br]well-being in itself is so different.

0:03:33.610,0:03:41.940
So I would see mental health as a very open[br]way of: are you feeling balanced and able

0:03:41.940,0:03:46.420
to face life in the complexity that it is?

0:03:47.650,0:03:51.980
As indigenous people we've lived through an [br]enormous amount of trauma, and trying

0:03:51.980,0:03:58.009
to find that balance living in the [br]environment that you do is challenging.

0:03:59.759,0:04:06.890
Mental health is the term that I use to talk[br]about sort of being unable to cope with reality,

0:04:06.890,0:04:13.390
and different forms of things that my brain[br]does... and ways that I change the way that

0:04:13.390,0:04:17.340
I perceive the world that are usually pretty[br]harmful to my life.

0:04:17.670,0:04:22.750
In the society that we live in, oftentimes[br]mental health ends up actually eclipsing

0:04:22.750,0:04:24.230
the larger context.

0:04:24.230,0:04:28.580
That language that we use to talk about [br]mental health is the the language

0:04:28.580,0:04:30.440
of the biomedical model.

0:04:30.440,0:04:33.380
But meanwhile it leaves[br]out the social context.

0:04:33.380,0:04:38.030
And we're not talking at all about the [br]living situation that you're in,

0:04:38.030,0:04:40.130
or the color of your skin,

0:04:40.130,0:04:43.630
or the kind of access[br]you've had to housing,

0:04:43.630,0:04:46.260
or the access you've had to education,

0:04:46.260,0:04:49.470
and what you have to deal with [br]on a daily basis.

0:04:49.480,0:04:54.380
So if you live on reserve you have all kinds[br]of challenges there.

0:04:54.380,0:04:57.079
If you live off reserve if you have a whole[br]new set of challenges.

0:04:57.079,0:04:59.070
And how do you work through them all?

0:04:59.070,0:05:01.500
How do you make it better for the next generation?

0:05:04.680,0:05:08.409
Since mental health is primarily [br]influenced by social factors,

0:05:08.409,0:05:11.130
there's no real way to solve it [br]without changing the social condition

0:05:11.130,0:05:12.130
that we're in.

0:05:12.130,0:05:19.009
What we see it as is being able to use your[br]psychological abilities to help fight against

0:05:19.009,0:05:20.500
the repression that comes towards you.

0:05:20.500,0:05:24.150
We need to figure out ways to increase our[br]ability to fight against the forces that are

0:05:24.150,0:05:27.080
helping make us mentally ill, as it were.

0:05:30.370,0:05:35.870
So I see mental health not just as something[br]that belongs to a person, or lives in a person.

0:05:35.870,0:05:39.860
But rather sort of a response to the [br]condition that is around us that

0:05:39.860,0:05:42.480
causes us to hurt in this world.

0:05:50.270,0:05:54.300
Mental unwellness in broader society [br]is an epidemic.

0:05:59.300,0:06:05.830
Whether it's just plain old capitalism that's,[br]like, really selling the idea of

0:06:05.830,0:06:10.840
anything solvable through some exchange of[br]money.

0:06:10.840,0:06:17.120
The terms of success - of a successful life[br]- that have been passed down by the state,

0:06:17.120,0:06:21.490
by mass media, they're really unattainable[br]for almost everyone.

0:06:21.490,0:06:26.760
And then even when people do achieve [br]material success in these terms,

0:06:26.760,0:06:28.949
they struggle with finding meaning.

0:06:28.949,0:06:32.520
The conditions around us have other [br]psychologically damaging effects.

0:06:32.520,0:06:37.040
The way that we relate to each other socially[br]and the tendency towards seeking of, like,

0:06:37.040,0:06:41.039
social capital than seeking actual, like,[br]close relationships with people.

0:06:41.039,0:06:46.350
When I think about mental health in my "immediate[br]community", I see a community that is making

0:06:46.350,0:06:49.820
space for particular people who are living[br]with mental health issues.

0:06:49.820,0:06:55.560
What I'm reminded of, is the ability for a[br]Black man in my building to live mad while

0:06:55.560,0:07:01.330
Black, and walk around in this building in[br]that way would probably not happen.

0:07:01.330,0:07:04.039
Because what I know is happening, [br]not just in the city,

0:07:04.039,0:07:06.479
but in this province and in this country,

0:07:06.479,0:07:11.320
is police responses to Black people[br]living with mental health issues,

0:07:11.320,0:07:17.640
or mad-identified, often, [br]but not always, result in fatal shootings.

0:07:18.210,0:07:22.679
I would say generally in my community, [br]a lot of people have struggles.

0:07:22.679,0:07:25.069
A lot of people see therapists.

0:07:25.069,0:07:26.889
Some people have diagnoses.

0:07:26.889,0:07:28.689
Some people are medicated.

0:07:28.689,0:07:33.450
So I would say, like, in the anarchist [br]community a lot of people are struggling,

0:07:33.450,0:07:36.600
but there's, like, a lot more [br]conversations about that.

0:07:36.600,0:07:42.730
A lot more informal peer support than in other[br]communities that friends and family who are

0:07:42.730,0:07:45.120
not anarchists are a part of.

0:07:45.120,0:07:49.949
What I see happening in the mental health[br]system is that there are an incredible number

0:07:49.949,0:07:53.749
of people who struggle with issues of trauma.

0:07:53.749,0:07:58.340
And what happens is when they come into the[br]system and end up getting diagnosed with a

0:07:58.340,0:08:03.800
mental illness, what's happened to them [br]in the past gets eclipsed by this culture,

0:08:03.800,0:08:07.240
which is very wrapped up in this whole [br]model where there's a drug for

0:08:07.240,0:08:09.849
everything that you could[br]possibly need.

0:08:09.849,0:08:14.730
A huge piece of what we can do is [br]think outside the medical box

0:08:14.730,0:08:18.490
and use more transformative[br]ways of thinking.

0:08:25.630,0:08:30.060
Human beings are social creatures, meaning[br]that we simultaneously engage with

0:08:30.060,0:08:32.179
and are shaped by our surroundings.

0:08:32.179,0:08:35.620
This fact is often overlooked by those who[br]see madness as nothing more

0:08:35.620,0:08:37.750
than a neurochemical imbalance.

0:08:37.750,0:08:42.229
In reality, social factors such as how[br]broke you are, the color of your skin,

0:08:42.229,0:08:45.150
your gender and sexual orientation, [br]and how well you pass[br]

0:08:45.150,0:08:47.470
as a productive member [br]of capitalist society,

0:08:47.470,0:08:51.150
all play huge roles in determining how you[br]are treated, what health care

0:08:51.150,0:08:54.920
and social supports you have access to, [br]and therefore greatly shape your

0:08:54.920,0:08:57.010
emotional and mental well being.

0:08:57.010,0:09:02.080
The hyper-individualization promoted by our[br]current social media paradigm swaps human

0:09:02.080,0:09:07.350
contact for superficial interactions based[br]on curated personas of likes and follows.

0:09:07.350,0:09:08.920
Did you lose your subscribers?!

0:09:11.610,0:09:16.310
The realm of spirituality has been so co opted[br]and tainted by religious institutions that

0:09:16.310,0:09:21.420
many of us have no access to rituals and traditions[br]that could help us feel a meaningful connection

0:09:21.420,0:09:23.280
to the world around us.

0:09:23.280,0:09:27.800
Profiting off this mess is the pharmaceutical[br]industry, comprised of some of the world's

0:09:27.800,0:09:32.810
biggest corporate powerhouses, who spend billions[br]each year lobbying doctors to push their newest

0:09:32.810,0:09:36.970
and most lucrative designer drugs, all with[br]the goal of getting as many people medicated

0:09:36.970,0:09:38.120
as they can.

0:09:52.430,0:10:04.530
♫♫ Crazy[br]I'm crazy for feeling so lonely

0:10:04.530,0:10:14.720
I'm crazy[br]Crazy for feeling so blue ♫♫

0:10:16.920,0:10:21.820
When one in four people [br]suffer from mental illness,

0:10:21.820,0:10:24.949
I have to sort of question [br]what that means.

0:10:27.699,0:10:32.289
Whatever the status of mental health is, [br]it’s rapidly declining.

0:10:32.289,0:10:35.450
And I think that’s happening [br]in an intentional manner.

0:10:38.270,0:10:45.689
It just seems to me that anything and everything[br]is being described as a mental health problem

0:10:45.689,0:10:51.160
– in such a way that creates this, like,[br]false idea that there is a mental health

0:10:51.160,0:10:52.380
solution for that.

0:10:52.380,0:10:55.940
Possibly in the name of a pill, [br]but often in the name of

0:10:55.940,0:10:59.600
some other additional kind of control.

0:10:59.600,0:11:04.769
A lot of the factors that lead to what we[br]tend to call mental illness are entirely out

0:11:04.769,0:11:06.899
of the control of the people who are [br]experiencing them,

0:11:06.899,0:11:10.339
and aren’t really from a biological[br]or chemical root.

0:11:10.339,0:11:12.829
They’re from the social condition [br]that the people are in.

0:11:12.829,0:11:16.190
How can we live in the world [br]that we’re in and be “well”?

0:11:16.660,0:11:20.880
We need to recognize that the society that[br]we live in is actually very unhealthy.

0:11:20.880,0:11:25.740
If we’re starting from this place that what[br]we’re trying to do is get people to be healthy

0:11:25.740,0:11:27.680
so that they can fit into society...

0:11:27.680,0:11:29.009
that to me is really scary.

0:11:29.009,0:11:31.800
Because I’m often sad, and I’m often hurt.

0:11:31.800,0:11:36.019
And I’m often anxious and paranoid[br]... and those are for very real reasons.

0:11:36.019,0:11:41.520
My spirit can’t be stable if the material[br]world around me is absolutely scary.

0:11:42.420,0:11:53.709
The real visceral and true fear of deportation,[br]bankruptcy, homelessness, incarceration...

0:11:53.709,0:11:58.920
these are things that contribute to someone’s[br]individual experience of despair.

0:11:58.920,0:12:05.749
And rather than offering a solution, [br]it’s always just some pill, or injection.

0:12:05.749,0:12:08.790
Or just... removal.

0:12:09.690,0:12:11.540
I work with refugee claimants.

0:12:11.540,0:12:18.500
The very first weeks they arrive here in Canada,[br]they live a whole different range of challenges.

0:12:18.500,0:12:19.930
A lot comes from what they carry.

0:12:19.930,0:12:26.820
What they lived in their countries: war, rape,[br]being jailed, being tortured.

0:12:26.820,0:12:30.930
But also a lot of things they lived [br]trying to get to Canada.

0:12:30.930,0:12:36.310
So some of them might have travelled a whole[br]year, crossing ten different countries without

0:12:36.310,0:12:39.570
documents, without papers, [br]before they arrive here.

0:12:39.570,0:12:43.700
So it’s a very heavy weight [br]they carry with them.

0:12:43.700,0:12:49.690
And also a lot of challenges they face is[br]actually arriving here with nothing and having

0:12:49.690,0:12:53.730
to face what it is to be a refugee claimant[br]in Canada.

0:12:56.150,0:12:59.919
One of the hardest things is being in a state[br]where you don’t know what’s going to happen

0:12:59.919,0:13:01.229
to you, right?

0:13:01.229,0:13:07.540
So you might wait a year, two years, to know[br]if you’re going to be able to stay here.

0:13:07.540,0:13:13.640
So this period of just... not knowing what[br]you can build for yourself and your kids

0:13:13.640,0:13:15.880
as a life is very hard.

0:13:15.880,0:13:17.310
Very stressful.

0:13:25.580,0:13:29.460
I think it’s really important, if we’re[br]gonna talk about mental health

0:13:29.460,0:13:32.340
and mental wellness, [br]that we think about ourselves

0:13:32.340,0:13:34.930
related to a larger social context.

0:13:34.930,0:13:38.990
I think one of the things that really impacts[br]our mental health is that we live in such

0:13:38.990,0:13:43.440
an individualistic society, where we think[br]the things that are happening to us

0:13:43.440,0:13:45.330
are happening because [br]of our brain chemistry.

0:13:45.330,0:13:47.429
Or they’re happening to us [br]because of some fault of ours,

0:13:47.429,0:13:49.500
because we’re not strong[br]enough to survive.

0:13:49.500,0:13:53.370
When really they’re these larger social[br]issues that are impacting everyone.

0:13:54.020,0:13:59.600
On a personal level, I get into trouble [br]when I get disconnected from things

0:13:59.600,0:14:02.330
that are meaningful to me in the world.

0:14:02.330,0:14:06.370
One of the things that I wanna do with my[br]life is engage with all of the imbalances

0:14:06.370,0:14:10.980
of power with communities that are trying[br]to counter those imbalances.

0:14:11.770,0:14:17.010
A lot of the factors are just like the standard[br]foundations of society, which is anti-Blackness,

0:14:17.010,0:14:18.240
racism and capitalism.

0:14:18.240,0:14:22.350
And until those are destroyed, [br]there’s no actual solution.

0:14:22.960,0:14:27.309
When I think about the conditions that [br]contribute to unwellness for Black people,

0:14:27.309,0:14:30.929
the number one is generally [br]the experience of

0:14:30.929,0:14:32.989
the transatlantic slave trade,[br]first and foremost.

0:14:32.989,0:14:34.440
The experience of colonialism.

0:14:34.440,0:14:36.339
The ongoing experiences of colonialism.

0:14:36.339,0:14:39.279
The ongoing occupations of Black spaces.

0:14:39.279,0:14:42.650
I see the hyper-surveillance of those communities[br]as a particular kind of occupations.

0:14:42.650,0:14:47.049
And I’m using that word sort of in soft[br]quotes, while keeping in mind the context

0:14:47.049,0:14:48.990
of what the word ‘occupation’ means here.

0:14:50.740,0:14:55.329
500 years of colonialism has really taken[br]its toll on Indigenous people.

0:14:55.329,0:14:59.160
And it’s taken it in so many different ways.

0:15:01.010,0:15:03.889
There’s been a lot of hurt.

0:15:03.889,0:15:05.209
There’s been a lot of pain.

0:15:05.209,0:15:09.610
There’s been a lot of trauma that’s been[br]passed on from generation to generation.

0:15:09.610,0:15:14.739
It’s a real struggle to get better when[br]you’re left to fend for yourself.

0:15:14.739,0:15:21.110
But it seems like in a lot of the communities,[br]they purposefully take everything away

0:15:21.110,0:15:24.800
and then are—it feels like they’re just [br]waiting to see everybody die.

0:15:24.800,0:15:29.510
I think that with the high rates of suicide[br]in every single community—I know the Inuit

0:15:29.510,0:15:33.730
community is probably the highest, but you[br]know, even in my community, y’know,

0:15:33.730,0:15:36.500
the suicide rate is pretty high.

0:15:36.500,0:15:40.830
I think that when you’re always surrounded[br]by death, because people give up,

0:15:40.830,0:15:46.880
that having these ceremonies to turn to, [br]where you can honor their memory

0:15:46.880,0:15:50.510
and be surrounded by healers[br]is a good way.

0:15:50.510,0:15:55.270
And because the Indian Act forced us [br]to give up all those ceremonies,

0:15:55.270,0:15:58.290
now is the time where[br]we have to re-learn them.

0:16:08.960,0:16:14.099
Of all the modern sciences aimed at reproducing[br]subservience and reinforcing State power...

0:16:14.099,0:16:17.020
psychiatry is particularly nasty.

0:16:17.020,0:16:21.680
Its history is fraught with the warehousing[br]and torture of countless individuals in sanitariums

0:16:21.680,0:16:23.189
and asylums.

0:16:23.189,0:16:27.880
In their eternal quest to understand and destroy[br]that which is different, states have performed

0:16:27.880,0:16:32.680
every conceivable type of experiment on human[br]test subjects, from mass sterilizations

0:16:32.680,0:16:36.429
and LSD-induced comas [br]to decades of routine lobotomies.

0:16:38.439,0:16:43.410
Psychiatrists’ enthusiastic embrace of eugenics[br]during the early 20th century was a major

0:16:43.410,0:16:48.730
inspiration for Nazi scientists, providing[br]them a convenient pseudo-scientific justification

0:16:48.730,0:16:50.329
for the Holocaust.

0:16:50.329,0:16:55.329
And while the term became taboo after WWII[br]the inherent link between psychiatry

0:16:55.329,0:17:00.889
and eugenics continued long after, [br]and some would argue, still exists today.

0:17:00.889,0:17:05.430
Although psychiatry poses amidst the hard[br]science-based branches of medicine,

0:17:05.430,0:17:08.520
nowhere else is the creation of [br]medical conditions and disorders

0:17:08.520,0:17:11.640
so socially manufactured as[br]in psychiatry's bible,

0:17:11.640,0:17:14.980
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual[br]or DSM.

0:17:14.980,0:17:19.150
While the process of deciding how to categorize[br]the mentally unwell can involve aspects of

0:17:19.150,0:17:24.150
the scientific method, it is oftentimes no[br]more than a room full of old white men promoting

0:17:24.150,0:17:27.449
their collected social biases [br]and individual agendas.

0:17:27.449,0:17:31.849
Ralph was sick. A sickness [br]that was not visible like smallpox,

0:17:31.849,0:17:36.869
but no less dangerous and contagious.[br]A sickness of the mind.

0:17:36.869,0:17:39.119
You see... Ralph was a homosexual.

0:17:39.119,0:17:46.222
Within the sacred pages of the DSM, homosexuality[br]was considered a mental disorder until 1987,

0:17:46.222,0:17:50.880
and to this day, many transgender people need[br]to be diagnosed with a mental illness in order

0:17:50.880,0:17:52.850
to receive the treatments they need.

0:17:52.850,0:17:56.490
Women who may have once been labeled [br]as nymphomaniacs or hysterics,

0:17:56.490,0:17:58.820
are today branded instead with BPD,

0:17:58.820,0:18:03.290
or borderline personality disorder, [br]a catch-all diagnosis primarily inscribed

0:18:03.290,0:18:07.149
on women whose histories of trauma [br]are not seen as real or legitimate.

0:18:07.149,0:18:12.350
Although there have been attempts to distance[br]psychiatry from this legacy, its ongoing history

0:18:12.350,0:18:18.450
is one of padded cells, forced injections,[br]electroshock, and indefinite institutionalization.

0:18:18.450,0:18:22.460
If you find yourself on the wrong side of[br]the modern mental healthcare system,

0:18:22.460,0:18:26.380
you can easily fall into a vicious [br]feedback loop of mental health crises,

0:18:26.380,0:18:30.770
often caused by trauma, leading to[br]further violence and re-traumatization.

0:18:30.770,0:18:34.600
This may take the form of forced[br]hospitalization, incarceration,

0:18:34.600,0:18:36.520
hurting yourself[br]or people that you love,

0:18:36.520,0:18:39.300
or ultimately[br]... being murdered by the police.

0:18:46.600,0:18:53.000
The state engages with mental unwellness by[br]being the identifier of those of us that are

0:18:53.000,0:18:54.630
well and those of us that are unwell.

0:18:56.080,0:19:02.770
So the state and psychiatry define being well[br]in terms of how well you conform to a normal

0:19:02.770,0:19:07.580
and in this society that normal [br]encompasses all of the problematic

0:19:07.580,0:19:09.840
natures of mainstream society.

0:19:09.840,0:19:14.450
If you went back and asked your guidance counselor[br]what their version of success would be for

0:19:14.450,0:19:17.950
you moving forward, [br]well, it’s like how well you conform.

0:19:17.950,0:19:22.210
They started the residential schools [br]to assimilate the children.

0:19:22.210,0:19:26.760
It was the law that if you didn’t give up[br]your children you were sent to jail.

0:19:26.760,0:19:31.500
They call the foster care system [br]the next residential school.

0:19:31.500,0:19:33.900
The kids that are in care aren’t [br]brought up in a good way

0:19:33.900,0:19:36.020
and they fall through the cracks.

0:19:36.310,0:19:38.490
The state usually criminalizes mental unwellness.

0:19:38.490,0:19:41.180
Generally if you look at the ways [br]that psych wards operate,

0:19:41.180,0:19:43.670
it’s not significantly different [br]than prison.

0:19:43.670,0:19:47.380
And if you look at the way prisons operate[br]they’re usually used as psych wards.

0:19:47.380,0:19:51.270
There’s no real distinction between the[br]carcerality of american society in general

0:19:51.270,0:19:53.140
and the way that we treat the mentally ill.

0:19:53.140,0:19:55.674
Including the way that police [br]shoot mentally ill people.

0:19:55.674,0:19:58.640
News 1: A police officer shoots and kills[br]a teenager with schizophrenia.

0:19:58.640,0:20:03.710
News 2: A mentally ill man being shot four[br]times by a police officer despite the fact

0:20:03.710,0:20:05.820
that the victim showed no threat of force.

0:20:05.820,0:20:08.579
News 3: And a mentally ill man shot dead [br]by two Dallas officers.

0:20:09.089,0:20:15.870
I’ve spent four and a half months in state[br]jails, about a month and a half in psych wards,

0:20:15.870,0:20:18.690
and there are some, like, [br]really noticeable similarities.

0:20:18.690,0:20:22.710
There’s coercive violence, isolation[br]- but the difference is that

0:20:22.710,0:20:25.780
like, when I’m in jail, [br]I’m well and I’m myself,

0:20:25.780,0:20:28.310
I’m in a battle against the state[br]and they're my enemy

0:20:28.310,0:20:29.600
and they’ve locked me in a cage.

0:20:29.600,0:20:32.809
And when I’m in a psych ward, [br]it’s like a whole different world.

0:20:32.809,0:20:36.550
I don’t understand what’s going on.[br]I have no connection to myself.

0:20:36.550,0:20:39.450
If I refuse medication,[br]I’ll be tackled to the ground[br]

0:20:39.450,0:20:41.280
and have it injected into me.

0:20:41.420,0:20:46.980
The trauma that I feel in my life from having[br]been in jail is so much less profound than

0:20:46.980,0:20:49.250
the trauma that comes from a psych ward.

0:20:49.250,0:20:53.120
Generally mental illness is treated as [br]something to push under the rug and hide

0:20:53.120,0:20:56.210
and either like fix with, you know, [br]dumbing you down enough that you can

0:20:56.210,0:20:58.890
actually deal with whatever[br]bullshit society is giving you.

0:20:58.890,0:21:02.030
Or, with putting you away if you’re[br]unable to actually get back

0:21:02.030,0:21:04.700
into the capitalist flow of things.

0:21:05.730,0:21:11.390
Generally, the state engages with unwellness[br]on a complete individual basis.

0:21:11.390,0:21:15.900
The problem is individualized and the solution[br]is also individualized.

0:21:15.900,0:21:19.740
Self-care is usually a stand-in [br]for a lot of neoliberal approaches

0:21:19.740,0:21:21.500
to dealing with mental health problems.

0:21:21.500,0:21:26.340
I worry that sometimes this expectation [br]that people practice self-care

0:21:26.340,0:21:29.330
kind of misses the target in many ways.

0:21:29.330,0:21:35.309
Generally it focuses on a very individualized[br]approach of like, taking care of your personal

0:21:35.309,0:21:39.779
needs as far as like attention or how people[br]interact with you or things like that.

0:21:39.779,0:21:44.749
My wellness is maintained by taking [br]pharmaceutical drugs

0:21:44.749,0:21:48.139
that are made by some of the [br]worst corporations in the world.

0:21:48.139,0:21:52.229
People that are capitalizing [br]off of hyper medication,

0:21:52.229,0:21:55.880
they’re advertising to doctors [br]to try and get, you know,

0:21:55.880,0:21:59.500
as big of a quarterly [br]fucking profit as they can.

0:21:59.500,0:22:06.350
You have to simultaneously be able to hold[br]the understanding that the pharmaceutical

0:22:06.350,0:22:10.350
industry, like, really what they’re interested[br]in is profit and they’re gonna try to get

0:22:10.350,0:22:14.170
as many people as they possibly can [br]addicted to their drugs

0:22:14.170,0:22:18.480
… with the reality that like, there’s [br]actually a lot of people for whom

0:22:18.480,0:22:20.770
the drugs are really helpful, you know?

0:22:20.770,0:22:23.100
Not nearly as many people [br]as who are on them...[br]

0:22:23.100,0:22:27.810
but I think it’s really important [br]to be able to have that analysis

0:22:27.810,0:22:31.930
where you don’t just get shut down [br]and think in a black and white framework.

0:22:31.930,0:22:36.370
And I think that just because a system exists[br]doesn’t mean that we can’t critique it

0:22:36.370,0:22:39.519
while understanding that there are some [br]people that might benefit from that.

0:22:39.519,0:22:42.680
And that there’s no shame in being able [br]to be a person that decides

0:22:42.680,0:22:45.889
what your care might look like.[br]That doesn’t make you less critical,

0:22:45.889,0:22:49.040
that doesn’t make you less of [br]a mental health advocate.

0:22:49.350,0:22:54.989
As a psychiatrist, I basically have to [br]work with a lot of people who have,

0:22:54.989,0:23:01.500
at least historically if not currently, [br]found psych drugs and hospitalizations[br]

0:23:01.500,0:23:04.849
helpful at least to some extent.[br]And I think that’s fine.

0:23:04.849,0:23:12.429
What I do like to focus on with people is[br]maybe a return to true informed consent.

0:23:12.429,0:23:19.750
I like to focus, when possible, on supporting[br]people who maybe can’t find somebody who

0:23:19.750,0:23:25.700
is able and willing to help them taper or[br]withdraw from the medications that they’ve

0:23:25.700,0:23:32.049
been taking or live in a less coercive [br]environment during a crisis.

0:23:32.529,0:23:41.049
You have to walk in the white man’s world[br]to get the accreditation that they find believable

0:23:41.049,0:23:44.070
in order for you to help your own people.

0:23:44.070,0:23:49.080
For instance, I can get a psychologist[br]from Health Canada. They’ll pay for that.

0:23:49.080,0:23:54.000
But I can’t get funding from Health Canada [br]to pay for my spiritual elder

0:23:54.000,0:23:56.470
cause he doesn’t have [br]a degree in spirituality.

0:24:10.030,0:24:14.320
Rather than unquestioningly accepting the[br]State's authority on the causes and nature

0:24:14.320,0:24:18.120
of mental unwellness and official dictates[br]on what our interventions can and should

0:24:18.120,0:24:23.010
look like, today many crazy people are [br]asserting our power to choose the right mix

0:24:23.010,0:24:26.480
of institutional and informal supports [br]for the problems we face.

0:24:26.480,0:24:30.779
This growing movement seeks to counter [br]stigmatizing conceptions of mental illness

0:24:30.779,0:24:34.300
that paint it as an isolated [br]and individualized phenomenon,

0:24:34.300,0:24:37.650
positing instead the need for [br]dynamic peer-based solutions

0:24:37.650,0:24:40.840
rooted in interconnectedness [br]and community support.

0:24:42.380,0:24:45.630
Social media, with all its flaws, [br]can play an important role in building

0:24:45.630,0:24:49.370
peer to peer networks, by offering us [br]the ability to connect with others

0:24:49.370,0:24:54.080
who have faced similar experiences. This[br]can be particularly helpful for individuals[br]

0:24:54.080,0:24:58.260
that face geographic or emotional barriers[br]to community and mental health support.

0:24:58.910,0:25:02.380
Because at the end of the day… [br]the best person to take care of someone in[br]

0:25:02.380,0:25:06.540
mental health crisis is often someone [br]who’s already been through it themselves.

0:25:24.570,0:25:30.179
When we try to support or be allied with people[br]that face this type of mental health issue

0:25:30.179,0:25:33.290
or trauma, we should be, in a way, curious.

0:25:33.290,0:25:35.630
Not be afraid to ask questions.

0:25:35.630,0:25:36.840
To learn.

0:25:36.840,0:25:39.990
And to try to connect with those people [br]we try to help.

0:25:39.990,0:25:46.680
And really try to understand on a human[br]and deeper level what these people faced

0:25:46.680,0:25:49.239
in the past, [br]and what they are feeling right now.

0:25:49.929,0:25:55.020
The government did everything that they could[br]to destroy us... and yet we’re still here.

0:25:55.020,0:25:57.700
We all carry a different kind of trauma.

0:25:57.700,0:26:03.740
And sometimes those traumas [br]eat away at us until there’s nothing left.

0:26:03.740,0:26:11.140
And sometimes those traumas, we’re able[br]to work through them and they become our

0:26:11.140,0:26:12.900
—almost energy source.

0:26:12.900,0:26:18.560
To keep moving forward so that we can [br]help the next generation.

0:26:18.860,0:26:23.450
I have hope that, y’know, this generation[br]is addressing these issues in a good way.

0:26:23.450,0:26:26.370
So that we don’t continue the trauma.

0:26:26.370,0:26:29.310
And try to reverse it if possible.

0:26:29.310,0:26:32.610
Situations and humans are so complex.

0:26:32.610,0:26:35.760
And we need to really be open to that complexity.

0:26:35.760,0:26:39.670
Never try to simplify or put labels on people.

0:26:39.670,0:26:43.810
This person is ‘traumatized’, or this[br]person is ‘gonna be okay’.

0:26:43.810,0:26:46.330
She’s ‘strong’, she’s ‘resilient’,[br]right?

0:26:46.330,0:26:49.870
We simplify situations that are very complex.

0:26:51.340,0:26:54.540
People tend to have a lot of personal and[br]community ways of dealing with

0:26:54.540,0:26:58.509
mental health problems,[br]but societally we tend to fail entirely.

0:26:58.509,0:27:01.000
Generally what I’ve noticed in [br]communities is a desire to help

0:27:01.000,0:27:02.550
and a lack of ability to.

0:27:02.550,0:27:06.970
The actual, like, social conditions [br]that cause these kinds of problems are

0:27:06.970,0:27:08.220
more what needs to be addressed.

0:27:08.220,0:27:10.410
And no one really seems to do that very well.

0:27:15.340,0:27:18.440
The best community support that [br]I’m a part of is very informal.

0:27:18.440,0:27:22.989
It’s just talking with friends about how[br]we’re doing, and what we’re thinking about.

0:27:22.989,0:27:25.690
A lot of it is about building those [br]relationships beforehand.

0:27:25.690,0:27:29.980
Because whatever you do when a crisis occurs[br]is going to be affected by and influenced

0:27:29.980,0:27:33.070
by the actual relationships [br]you have with people.

0:27:33.070,0:27:37.179
Y’know, just making sure that our interactions[br]with people are consensual.

0:27:37.179,0:27:41.120
Understanding what it may feel like [br]for someone to feel really scared

0:27:41.120,0:27:43.230
and be sharing something with you.

0:27:43.230,0:27:45.820
Not only what do they need, [br]but what can I offer?

0:27:45.820,0:27:48.800
And I think for me, actually that’s one[br]of the first questions.

0:27:49.300,0:27:53.440
There’s this opportunity in the crisis,[br]and in the breakdown,

0:27:53.440,0:27:55.310
for it to be a breakthrough.

0:27:55.310,0:27:58.370
If you stick around, y’know, if you [br]go through the hard times

0:27:58.370,0:28:00.900
and get through the other side[br]there’s a damn good chance [br]

0:28:00.900,0:28:03.809
you’re gonna come out with some wisdom [br]that you never would have had.

0:28:03.809,0:28:08.660
As a community of people who like, actually,[br]care about making change in the world,

0:28:08.660,0:28:14.250
we need to lay the foundations for a [br]more understanding relationship to crisis.

0:28:14.920,0:28:18.190
The best community support doesn’t have[br]to look like an intervention.

0:28:18.190,0:28:23.150
And ideally, when our communities are in a[br]good place, and when individuals have

0:28:23.150,0:28:26.990
really good, caring relationships [br]and support networks set up,

0:28:26.990,0:28:31.310
then the crisis doesn’t happen.[br]Or it can be alleviated.

0:28:31.310,0:28:36.770
I think that what we really have to begin[br]to take seriously is that emotions surface

0:28:36.770,0:28:38.830
at a different range for different people.

0:28:38.830,0:28:42.431
And I think that some times there’s a way[br]that we think listening is enough.

0:28:42.431,0:28:46.210
And it may be sometimes people [br]might require something of us.

0:28:46.210,0:28:56.679
The authority that a psychiatrist is granted[br]can be subverted to lift the voice of the

0:28:56.679,0:29:00.270
participant in the therapeutic relationship.

0:29:00.730,0:29:07.550
The role of the therapist, psychiatrist, [br]social worker, mental health worker

0:29:07.550,0:29:13.910
... should be to step the fuck back [br]and model a non-hierarchical,

0:29:13.910,0:29:18.100
non-secretive way [br]of being with one another.

0:29:18.100,0:29:23.569
I hope that all of the work that our communities[br]are doing around healing from trauma,

0:29:23.569,0:29:27.090
around transformative justice [br]and community accountability

0:29:27.090,0:29:30.100
– that these can coalesce into some [br]peer support models

0:29:30.100,0:29:32.860
and some models for,[br]like, intervening in crisis.

0:29:32.860,0:29:38.260
And as much as I hope, and am excited [br]about this work, I’m also skeptical

0:29:38.260,0:29:42.480
because of the magnitude [br]of mental health crises.

0:29:42.480,0:29:47.489
There are so many different issues that face[br]us that sometimes it can be overwhelming.

0:29:47.489,0:29:52.779
But if you keep moving forward, and you keep[br]addressing these issues and keep trying to

0:29:52.779,0:29:57.360
find those solutions[br]... it brings hope to others.

0:30:04.850,0:30:08.700
From the epidemics of suicides [br]and overdoses, to the shock and rage

0:30:08.700,0:30:11.290
sparked by the never-ending[br]wave of police killings,

0:30:11.290,0:30:13.530
it’s painful to think about [br]all those who’ve died as a

0:30:13.530,0:30:17.240
result of complications with mental [br]health and their inability to receive

0:30:17.240,0:30:18.900
the support that they needed.

0:30:18.900,0:30:21.959
But their stories and lives aren’t forgotten.

0:30:21.959,0:30:24.900
Even as we continue to struggle[br]within and against a world

0:30:24.900,0:30:27.370
that is growing increasingly scary,

0:30:27.370,0:30:31.470
we must take steps to collectively[br]prepare ourselves for the battles to come.

0:30:32.460,0:30:37.250
Finding new ways to manage mental unwellness,[br]with all the beauty and conflict that entails,

0:30:37.250,0:30:41.640
is a fundamental component of building stronger,[br]healthier communities of resistance.

0:30:42.220,0:30:46.950
If we are able to do this, our movements will[br]not only become more sustained and resilient,

0:30:46.950,0:30:52.610
but will gain new layers of possibility as[br]we travel into the uncertain future together.

0:30:53.320,0:30:56.770
So at this point, we’d like to remind you[br]that Trouble is intended to be watched

0:30:56.770,0:31:00.300
in groups, and to be used as [br]a resource to promote discussion

0:31:00.300,0:31:01.350
and collective organizing.

0:31:01.980,0:31:05.929
Are you interested in starting a local peer[br]support group, or just wanna better integrate

0:31:05.929,0:31:09.200
mental health awareness into your [br]existing organizing projects?

0:31:09.200,0:31:12.810
Consider getting together with some comrades,[br]organizing a screening of this film,

0:31:12.810,0:31:14.740
and discussing where to get started.

0:31:14.740,0:31:18.610
Interested in running regular screenings of[br]Trouble at your campus, infoshop,

0:31:18.610,0:31:20.930
community center, [br]or even just at home with friends?

0:31:20.930,0:31:22.759
Become a Trouble-Maker!

0:31:22.759,0:31:26.460
For 10 bucks a month, we’ll hook you up[br]with an advanced copy of the show,

0:31:26.460,0:31:30.369
and a screening kit featuring additional [br]resources and some questions you can use

0:31:30.369,0:31:31.869
to get a discussion going.

0:31:31.869,0:31:34.980
If you can’t afford to support us financially,[br]no worries!

0:31:34.980,0:31:40.960
You can stream and/or download all our content[br]for free off our website: sub.media/trouble.

0:31:41.650,0:31:46.860
If you’ve got any suggestions for show topics,[br]or just want to get in touch, drop us a line

0:31:46.860,0:31:49.249
at trouble@sub.media.

0:31:49.249,0:31:54.340
A reminder that our online store is fully[br]stocked with fresh swag for any subMedia fans

0:31:54.340,0:31:55.949
on your holiday shopping list.

0:31:55.949,0:32:00.120
We’re a broke collective funded entirely[br]by donations, and all proceeds from these

0:32:00.120,0:32:05.110
sales go towards making it possible for us[br]to make more films like this one.

0:32:05.110,0:32:09.480
We’ll be doing our last shipment of the[br]year on December 16th, so be sure and get

0:32:09.480,0:32:13.249
your orders in before then at sub.media/gear.

0:32:13.249,0:32:17.570
This episode would not have been possible[br]without the generous support of John Hamilton.

0:32:17.570,0:32:21.590
This is the last episode of the year… and[br]after this we’ll be taking a month off.

0:32:21.590,0:32:26.410
But stay tuned early next year for Trouble[br]#18, as we take a closer look at policing,

0:32:26.410,0:32:29.460
and community resistance to state violence.

0:32:29.460,0:32:32.540
So we see, in the context of[br]the War on Terror,

0:32:32.540,0:32:35.760
within the last, y'know[br]10, 12, 15 years,

0:32:35.760,0:32:40.725
an attempt to fuse policing resources[br]to better respond to what are perceived

0:32:40.725,0:32:42.305
as domestic threats.

0:32:42.675,0:32:44.607
FUCK. THE. POLICE!

0:32:44.607,0:32:47.450
Now get out there…. and make some trouble!